As the ‘savings crisis’ takes effect, around 10 million British workers will be trapped into taking later retirement, according to new research conducted by insurance giant Canada Life. It’s also a worsening picture, with the number of people expecting to have to work longer increasing yearly.
Looking at the stats
The headline figure is that 73% of responders expect to work past 65 – an increase of 6% from 2016 and 12% from 2015, making these figures the highest ever. Clearly a major concern for many employees. Looking at the younger age group, the overall ‘delayed retirement’ figure was even higher, with 84% expecting to work past 65.
Further to this, 37% of those who said they expected to work past 65 felt it was likely they could be 70 before they stop work, and 10% said that the age when they could ‘fully retire’ could scarily be as much as 85. These are some concerning stats, which clearly underline the importance of good financial planning, something which we always urge our limited company contractor clients to take very seriously.
The reasons for the change
The survey found that 31% of responders (which equates to 10 million in real terms) said they would have to delay their planned retirement due to their savings not generating as much interest as they hoped they would, over the last eight years of low rates. That’s up from 23% who had the same concern in 2016 – an increase of 3 million people.
Another key factor is a lack of proper pension planning, and 36% cited this as a key reason for having to work longer, as their pensions just won’t pay enough to give them a reasonable income. In fact, Canada Life Marketing Director Paul Avis commented, “Insufficient pension savings are a key cause, with recent reforms prompting many to realise they will need to continue earning for longer to fund a decent retirement.” We can’t emphasise enough the importance of sorting your pension early, and as a contractor, you can find out more about how to do that on our Pension Contributions page.